Tag: handmade

Mamukko (English version)

Arantza Arruti Leave a comment

A few weeks ago I visited a place that left me fascinated: Kinsale (Ireland). This month I am in Cork on a research stay thanks to the University of Deusto and one Saturday I went to Kinsale, very close to Cork. I had high expectations because of the good things I was ‘told’, so, before going, I had a look on the web to see what I could find there. After spending more than half a day there, I would definitely recommend it!

Of course, I did some research to see if there were any entrepreneur around and, yes, in a corner, just around the corner on one of the main streets, a small shop caught my eye, it appeared out of nowhere, its name is Mamukko. Just in case, if you happen to be in Kinsale, here is the exact address and contact details: Guardwell, Kinsale, P17 A257. Tel: 085 734 2004 and email contact: contact@mamukko.ie

Mamukko is a family business, as one of the founders explains:

With 14 awards to its name, Mamukko has earned recognition both locally and internationally. New York Times, Forbes, and Stern Magazine have seen this brand as a key force in sustainable fashion.

Mamukko was founded in 2011. Since then, it is considered as a leader in Irish circular design, placing Kinsale firmly on the map of sustainability and eco-conscious innovation in Europe.

Its founder are Nora Magyar and her hunsband Attila Magyar, a 5th generation leatherworker. This couple transforms reclaimed materials into limited edition, high-quality bags and accessories. They invest in sustainability through the reduction of waste and the creation of sustainable fashion. Among the materials they use, we can find decommissioned sails, life rafts, leather remnants, and even airplane seats.

Founded in 2011, Mamukko has established itself as a leader in Irish circular design, placing Kinsale firmly on the map of sustainability and eco-conscious innovation in Europe.

All Mamukko’s designs are created (manufactured) in-house at their workshop in Kinsale, and always environmentally friendly.

Although when I visited the shop I could not be with Nora and Attila, I recognise that Jean was a hostess who knew how to perfectly convey Mamukko’s philosophy to me and led me to think again that another more sustainable world is possible. Thank you, Jean, for your time, your words and your teachings, and thank you Nora and Attila for your art. I took a ‘little piece’ of Mamukko with me.

Enjoy the rest of the month of May.

Bag&block or how to turn lego into jewellery

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A few days ago, while I was scrolling through Instagram, I came across a news item about some special bags. They were made with lego pieces! And not only that, the people who made them were special people who I am more than sure have more than a few of the necessary competences to be part of our P.E. community.

This is the Bag&Block brand, which started more than 20 years ago in France.

BAG&BLOCK’s goal is to involve as many people with severe and long-term mental illnesses as possible in the different production processes of our bags; to this end, we collaborate with organisations that guide this group in developing a professional career that will help them in their integration into society.

The team behind this idea is Fundación Intras and Salud Mental Zamora. This Foundation is a non-profit organisation created in 1994. It has a team of almost 600 professionals, who accompany people with mental health problems in the recovery of their life projects. They offer different professional services to meet their needs. They work in 6 provinces of Castilla y León (Valladolid, Zamora, Salamanca, Burgos, Palencia and Ávila), in Madrid and in a network with entities all over Europe through the development of projects.

One of the products made by people with mental health problems is a type of bag that is sustainable, resistant, very original and handmade with a lot of patience. To make them, they first create a flexible and resistant framework with lego blocks, then they place the metal pieces and, finally, they join the sides with threads and place the inner lining. One of Bag&Block’s objectives is to create bags with a different type of material to what we are used to, and to propose a new concept of personalisation where each customer can give free rein to their creativity by changing their bag whenever they wish.

You have to know that nowadays the production of a bag takes an average of five hours of work and that when they started to produce, back in 2006, the average number of hours was 40. Since then, many tests, prototypes and improvements have been carried out until reaching what we can acquire today, quality, sustainability, originality and comfort.

The technique of producing bags is safe for the people who make them and is also a way of keeping them busy while helping them to keep their psychomotor system active.

There are many models, just have a look here or here, and even almost from scratch to make your favourite model, just enter here and here, and get your imagination going. Also, you should know that the Bag&Block bags allow you to put on and take off lego blocks so you can adapt the bag to whatever you are wearing at the time and give free rein to your creativity. Oh, and the pieces are also compatible with Megablock and other standard brands.

If you want more information, I invite you to visit their website, their Instagram account or their facebook account.

By the way, it’s already April and Easter is just around the corner.

La galga menta

Arantza Arruti Leave a comment

This past weekend (March 5-7, 2021) a special market was held to celebrate the 8th of March (La Bernarda, urban festival). Although my idea was to go on Saturday, it was not possible for me to visit so many E.P. that I knew were getting together at Zawp until Sunday. I think that it is wonderful to surround yourself with people with so much art and, especially, to feel loved by them.

Today, apart from introducing to you a few of them, I’m going to focus a little more on some of them, of which I have not yet spoken to you in detail. Would you like to know about these entrepreneurial women? Go ahead.

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